Protective sanitary cover for bedpans



' Aug. 15, 1939.

PROTECTIVE SANITARY COVER FOR BEDPANS Filed May 28, 1938 In wen for K. M. ENGLERT 2,169,834

Kathryn May Enylerz Patented Aug. 15, 1939 PATENT OFFEQ PROTECTIVE SANITARY COVER FOR BEDPANS Kathryn May Englert, Portland, Oreg.

Application May 28, 1938, Serial No. 210,785

3 Claims.

The object of this invention is to provide a cover for the customary bed-pans used in the care of sick persons confined to their beds.

It has become customary practice in hospitals to sterilize these bed-pans, and it is desirable to protect them afterwards from contamination by touch with the hands, or contact with surrounding objects, until used, thus protecting the patient against possible infection; and after use it is customary to throw a cover of some kind over the bed-pan while being carried from the room.

I am a graduate and registered nurse, and. I conceived the idea that an envelope-like cover, preferably made of suitable paper, should be provided for bed-pans; these covers adapted to have the bed-pan inserted therein, and the cover to be sealed over the bed-pan until to be used, so as to protect the bed-pan against contamination. The cover is further adapted to permit the use of the bed-pan without removal of the cover, and the cover includes a flap which is adapted to be placed over the bed-pan after use.

Furthermore, bed-pans, being usually made of metal, may have rough portions, hence the incidental purpose of my cover is to protect the patient against abrasion, scratch or out due to these rough places on the bed-pan coming in contact with the skin of the patient, and in this manner to add to the protection of the patient against infection by such germs as the bed-pan may carry.

Furthermore, it is the purpose of my invention to provide a bed-pan cover which may be very inexpensively made, so that the use of these covers adds no appreciable expense to the care of the bed-pan and service rendered the patient. Furthermore, the cover preferably being made of paper, which is a poor conductor of heat, by slightly warming the cover before use a chilling sensation to the patient is avoided.

I carry my invention into practice by the envelope-like cover illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and made and used as hereinafter fully described.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view more or less diagrammatic, showing my envelope-like cover as containing a bed-pan, the flap attached to one side of the cover being placed on the under side of the cover so that it may be held in place in the placing of the bed-pan under the patient;

Fig. 2 shows a blank from which my cover may be made; and

Fig. 3 is an end View, more or less diagrammatic, also showing a bed-pan insertedin my cover, with the flap of the cover shown in solid lines as arranged across the bottom of the cover, and the same flap indicated in dot-and-dash line as arranged when lapped over the top of the cover. 5

As mentioned, the cover is preferably made of thin paper, which must have suitable tensile strength and resistance to moisture, at the same time may be disposed of by dropping in toilet bowls and sinks without danger of clogging the 10 sewer pipe. My cover comprises an elongate rectangular sheet of thin, flexible paper of requisite tensile strength, and in making up my cover the sheet is folded upon itself so as to constitute three approximately equal-sized sheets, that is, a 15 bottom section a, a top section I), having an opening conforming with but preferably of much smaller area than the opening in the top of the bed-pan, and an integral cover flap (1. The folding overof the top section 1) upon the bottom 20 section a is done in such manner as to bring the edge a in registration with the line b and the edges of the top and bottom sections are then fastened together at three sides so as to produce a bag-like structure or body into which the bed- 25 pan may be inserted and be sealed up after insertion as illustrated by Fig. 1. The cover flap (1 is made of ample width as shown, and may be provided with one or more tabs as 6 e and 6 which may be located as deemed expedient in 30 order to fasten the cover flap :2 initially in place after the bed-pan has been inserted in the cover, and thus seal the cover.

As shown in the drawing, the cover flap :1 is fastened to the right side of my cover and the 35 opening of the cover for the insertion of the bed-pan is at the near end of the cover. But these arrangements are merely one of convenience, and the cover flap (2 may be attached at either end or side of the cover, and the opening 40 between the top and bottom sections of the cover likewise may be located at either side or end, as preferred.

The opening in the top section b of the cover, While conforming with the shape of the opening 45 in the top of the bed-pan, is of much smaller area as mentioned. Thus the web of the top section of the cover encompassing its opening 0 projects a substantial distance inward beyond the margin of the opening in the topof the bed- 50 pan; and this encompassing web portion is provided with'a series of radiating slits 2' arranged about the opening 0 substantially as shown; and when the patient sits on the bed-pan these slits are broken and the portions about the opening c then curl in on and lap around the rim of the opening of the bed-pan, and in that manner the top of the cover is secured from slipping out of place.

The opening 0 should be made approximately 7 inches long and 3 inches wide at its greatest width. Without said slits, the opening of the top section b of the cover would have to be made much larger, and the top section of the cover would not afford an effective protection to the bed-pan and would be very apt tobe torn in handling.

The radiating slits i are about an inch long and terminate about A; of an inch from the margin of the opening 0, thus holding the partially severed portions of the top section b encircling the opening 0 in place until such portions are broken apart by the use of the bed-pan.

When the bed-pan has been inserted as shown in Fig. 1in which the bed-pan is indicated in broken outline fthe end portion a of the bottom section a of the cover will be brought up against the end-portion b of the top section b of the cover, and the end portions (1 and b may then be secured together by means of the tab e so as to seal in the bed-pan. For the purpose of sealing the bed-pan in the cover, the flaps e and e may also be used; the sealing faces thereof being understood to be provided with a suitable adhesive as indicated by g.

When the cover is to be used, the seals made by the tabs e 6 and e will first be broken and the cover flap d arranged under the cover as shown in Fig. 1 and by a solid line in Fig. 3; and after the bed-pan has been used the cover flap d is lapped over the top of the cover as indicated by the broken outline d in Fig. 3.

In order to facilitate the lifting of the top section b of the cover from the bottom section a, I provide the top section with a tab it which may be seized by the fingers to effect the separation of the top and bottom sections for the insertion of the bed-pan.

Without limiting myself to the precise details of construction above outlined, except as essential to the practical use of my invention, I claim:

1. A protective bed-pan cover comprising a bag-like structure open at one end for the insertion of the bed-pan and otherwise closed, that portion of the bag-like structure overlying the top of the pan being formed with an opening having a predetermined relation to the opening in the bed-pan, and having a cover flap carried by the bag-like structure and arrangeable in one position to overlie the bag-like structure and enclosed bed-pan and so as to substantially cover the upper area of the bag-like structure and particularly the opening therein.

2. A protective bed-pan cover comprising an elongate rectangular sheet of thin flexible paper folded upon itself so as to constitute three approximately equal-sized sections with one section projecting beyond the others, two of the adjacent sections being secured together at three sides to form a bag-like body to receive and completely enclose a bed-pan, the upper of such sections being provided with an opening conforming with the opening in the top of the bed-pan, the said projecting section of the sheet serving as a cover flap and arrangeable so as to cover the openings in said upper section of the body and the bedpan.

3. The combination described by claim 2 with said projecting section of the cover provided with means for securing the rim thereof to the body of the cover, thereby temporarily to fasten the cover in place so as to seal up the bed-pan there- KATHRYN MAY ENGLERT. 

